Antagonistic Apps & Team Dis-Kinect

Over the summer, The Creators Project partnered with Eyebeam Art & Technology Center in NYC to host a series of meetups, workshops and talks around the theme of "Designing for Participation." The program culminated in a weekend-long hackathon--the original impetus for the program in the first place. Called Art Hack Weekend, it was the first hackathon (to our knowledge) that focused not on making a marketable product or hatching the next big start-up or app idea, but rather on utilizing technology to dream up "new artistic experiences"--which in the end became the theme of the weekend.

The hackathon arose out of a desire to channel and support the immense creative energy we noticed in both The Creators Project and Eyebeam communities. We wanted to bring together creatives from diverse backgrounds and skillsets--developers, fine artists, graphic designers, game developers, dancers--and give them a lab space where they could collaboratively explore their wildest ideas. We also wanted to create a platform for showcasing and supporting emerging artists and creative technologists--those bedroom hackers with a day job who burn the midnight oil toiling on some idea simply for the pleasure of creation and self-expression.
Some 60+ participants attended, forming 15 teams and developing 16 project prototypes over the course of the 36-hour hacking sprint. At the close of the weekend, they presented these final works to a crowd of friends, family members and a panel of jurors who awarded two of the teams, Antagonistic Applications and Team Dis-Kinect, with development stipends and an opportunity to exhibit their finished pieces at our Creators Project NY event in DUMBO two months later. (Read more about the other projects here.)
The final works exceeded our every expectation. What these teams were able to accomplish in such a short timespan, mostly working nights and weekends over the course of eight weeks, is truly a testament to their passion, determination, and ingenuity. Watch the video profile above to meet the team members and hear more about the trials and tribulations that paved their road to success.